DYNAMICS OF THE MAGNETOSPHERE

Transcription

1 DYNAMICS OF THE MAGNETOSPHERE

2 ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCE LIBRARY A SERIES OF BOOKS ON THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS OF SPACE SCIENCE AND OF GENERAL GEOPHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS PUBLISHED IN CONNECTION WITH THE JOURNAL SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS Editorial Board J. E. BLAMONT, Laboratoire d'aeronomie. Verrieres. France R. 1. F. BOYD, University College. London, England 1. GOLDBERG, Kitt Peak National Observatory. Tucson. Ariz. U.S.A. C. DE JAGER, University of Utrecht. The Netherlands Z. KOPAL, University of Manchester. England G. H. LUDWIG, NOAA. National Environmental Satellite Service. Suitland. Md., U.S.A. R. LUST, President Max-Planck Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Wissenschaften. Munchen. F:R. G. B. M. McCORMAC, Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory. Palo Alto. Calif. U.S.A. H. E. NEWELL, Alexandria. Va.. U.S.A SEDOV, Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R.. Moscow. U.S.S.R. Z. SVESTKA, University of Utrecht. The Netherlands VOLUME 78 PROCEEDINGS

3 DYNAMICS OF THE MAGNETOSPHERE PROCEEDINGS OF THE A.G.V. CHAPMAN CONFERENCE 'MAGNETOSPHERIC SVBSTORMS AND RELATED PLASMA PROCESSES' HELD AT LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY, LOS ALAMOS, N.M., V.S.A. OCTOBER 9-13, 1978 Edited by SA. AKASOFU University of Alaska, Geophysical Institute, C. T. Elvey Building, Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S.A. D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY DORDRECHT : HOLLAND / BOSTON: V.S.A. LONDON:ENGLAND

4 Library of Congrus Cataloging in Publication Data DATA APPEARS ON SEPARATE CA RD. ISBN-13: : / e- ISBN -13: PUblished by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17, Dordrecht, Holland. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico by D. Reidel Pu blishing Company, Inc. Lincoln Building, 160 Old Derby Street, Hingham, Mass , U.S.A. All Rights Reserved Softcover reprint of the hardcqver 1st edition 1980 Copyright c> 1980 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means. electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without written permission From the copyright owner

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ix I. INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD AND THE MAGNETOSPHERE The Control of the Magnetopause by the Interplanetary Magnetic Field C.T. Russell Polar Cap Variations and the Interplanetary Magnetic Field C.-I. Meng IMF Changes and Polar-Cap Electric Fields and Currents J.L. Burch and R.A. Beelis Interplanetary Magnetic Field Changes and the Magnetotail M.N. Caan Transport.. Mechani sms at the Magnetopause B.V.O. Sonnerup The Configuration of Dayside Merging N.V. Crooker Dayside Aurora, A Signature of the Dayside Cusp and Correlation with Substorm Currents S. Mende~ R.B. Eather and E.G. Weber II. MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE COUPLING Dynamics of the Magnetospheric Plasma R.A. wolf and M. Barel Large-Scale Characteristics of Birkeland Currents T.A. Potemra~ T. Iijima and N.A. Saflekos The Auroral Electrojets G. Rostoker

6 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Studies of Currents and Electric Fields in the Auroral Zone Ionosphere using Radar Auroral Backscatter R.A. Greenwald 213 Electric Fields and Currents in the Earth's Magnetosphere V.M. Mishin~ A.D. Bazarzhapov and G.B. Shpynev Magnetic Substorm Characteristics Described by Magnetic Potential Maps for March 1976 H.W. Kroehl and A.D. Richmond III. PLASMA PROCESSES IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE The Role of Microturbulence on Collisionless ~econnection K. Papadopoulos Macroinstabilities of the Magnetotail K. Schindler Substorms and Magnetospheric Energy Transfer Processes D.W. Swift Pulsations at the Substorm Onset D.J. Southwood and W.F. Stuart Physical Processes for the Onset of Magnetospheric Substorms J.R. Kan~ S.-I. Akasofu and L.C. Lee IV. RING CURRENT FORMATION Observations of Plasma Injection G.K. Parks~ B. Mauk~ C. Gurgiolo~ and C.S. Lin The Physics of Plasma Injection Events M.G. Kivelson~ S.M. Kaye and D.J. Southwood Ring Curent Composition and Sources D.J. Williams Relationship Between Substorms and Storms Y. Kamide V. SUBSTORM MECHANISMS What is a Magnetospheric Substorm? S.-I. Akasofu 447

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS The Expansive Phase of the Magnetospheric Substorm c. Atkinson Externally Driven Magnetic Reconnection T. Sato A Dynamical Model for the Onset of Magnetospheric Substorms P.L. Rothwell and C.K. Yates Solar Wind Velocity, Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Ground State of the Magnetosphere L. Rossberg Generation of Field Aligned Current During Substorm A. Hasegawa and T. Sato vii VI. SUBSTORM PROCESSES IN THE MAGNETOTAIL Plasma Flow in the Magnetotail and its Implications for Substorm Theories E.W. Hones~ Jr. 545 Observations on Plasma Sheet Dynamics During Magnetospheric Substorms A. T. Y. Lui 56 3 Energetic Particle Bursts in the Earth's Magnetotail S.M. Krimigis and E.T. Sarris 599 Magnetic Variations During Substorms R. L. McPherron 6 31 Index of Names 649 Index of Subjects 656

8 FOREWORD The Los Alamos Chapman Conference on Magnetospheric Substorms and Related Plasma Processes can be considered the fourth in a series devoted to magnetospheric substorms, after the Moscow (1971), Houston (1972), and Bryce Mountain (1974) meetings. The main motivation for organizing the Los Alamos Conference was that magnetospheric substorm studies have advanced enough to the point of bringing experimenters, analysts and theorists together to discuss major substorm problems with special emphasis on theoretical interpretations in terms of plasma processes. In spite of an extremely heavy schedule from 8:30 A.M. to 10:00 P.M., every session was conducted in an enjoyable and spirited atmosphere. In fact, during one of the afternoons that we had put aside for relaxation, John Winckler led a group of the attendees in a climb to the ceremonial cave of a prehistoric Indian ruin at Bandelier National Monument, near Los Alamos under a crystal blue sky and a bright New Mexico sun. There, they danced as the former dwellers of the pueblo had, perhaps as an impromptu evocation of a magnetospheric event. This volume is an outcome of this exciting Conference, including most of the review papers and some contributed papers. It is very appropriate that this particular volume is included in the Astrophysics and Space Science Library series because other books on magnetospheric substorms have been published in the same series. The review papers are general enough for all students in magnetospheric physics, as well as for the specialists in substorm studies. This feeling was expressed by a number of attendees of the Conference. During the planning of this conference, it was felt that differences of opinion on many morphological aspects should be discussed in a morphology workshop, rather than during the Los Alamos Conference, since in the first three substorm conferences a great deal of time had been devoted to discussing details of various morphological aspects of substorms. The workshop was held at the University of Victoria on August 21-23, 1978, and was attended by nine workers. Some jokingly called this group the "Victorian nine" during the Los Alamos Conference. The Conference began with well prepared reviews of progress made in substorm studies in the past several years. If the Conference was, indeed, successful, we owe the invited reviewers for their great effort. Some of the reviewers concluded that it is much more reasonable to consider that the magnetosphere is an open system rather than a closed system. This open magnetosphere responds specifically to a specific change of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). s.-l. Akasofu (ed.), Dynamics of the Magnetosphere, ix-xi. Copyright 1979 by D. Reidel Publishing Company. ix

9 x FOREWORD Then, what is a magnetospheric substorm? Perhaps there is little disagreement among substorm workers about the fact that the magnetosphere develops a particular mode of energy dissipation when the power generated by a dynamo process, partially controlled by the IMF, is high. Various characteristics of this particular mode of energy dissipation are reflected in the nature of magnetospheric substorms. The convenor is most thankful to the theoretical reviewers for their extensive treatment. It is understandable, however, at the present stage of our study that a unified theoretical concept of this phenomenon did not emerge during the Conference. Some proposed, on the basis of their numerical simulation studies, that it is a spontaneous process in the magnetotail. On the other hand, on the basis of a recent finding of the energy coupling function and its correlation with the AE index, some concluded that a substorm is a driven process. It is important that such a fundamental issue of substorms has finally been brought to the attention of substorm workers by contrasting the two views. In this search for substorm mechanisms, it may be important to note the fact that the "Victorian nine" agreed unanimously that a magnetospheric substorm is associated with diversion of the cross-tail current to the polar ionosphere. On the other hand, there were also serious disagreements as to how the magnetosphere enhances its energy dissipation rate and how the current diversion is triggered. Some workers described their morphological models in terms of the formation of a magnetic X-line. Some others presented another morphological model which includes interruption of the cross-tail current near the earthward edge of the current sheet and the subsequent diversion to the polar ionosphere, without invoking the formation of an X-line. The morphological interpretation of magnetotail phenomena during substorms is thus a very controversial subject at the present time. In the final panel session, some panel members gave a very comprehensive theoretical review on the subject of magnetospheric substorms, putting various possibilities into proper perspective. One of them considers that both reconnection and current interruption are equally possible at this stage of theoretical study of magnetospheric substorms. He considers that reconnection can be spontaneous tearing or forced X-line formation, but remarked in essence that the applicability of MHD treatment in a collisionless plasma should be carefully re-examined. Another panel member stressed also the possibility of both reconnection and current interruption in the magnetotail and showed examples of numerical simulation results for both cases. It should be mentioned that the origin of field-aligned currents and some of their consequences (the V-potential formation) were also an important topic during the Conference. In summary, most panel members pointed out specifically that it is vital to develop a three-dimensional simulation model in order to treat the diversion of the cross-tail current. The convenor felt that the objectives of the Los Alamos Conference were reasonably well accomplished. It is one of his hopes that a

10 FOREWORD vigorous theoretical effort will be made during the next several years in understanding basic plasma processes involved in substorms. It is hoped that by conveying the content of this Conference, this volume will represent an important milestone in substorm studies. Finally, as the Convenor of the Conference and the Editor of this volume, I would like to thank the American Geophysical Union in endorsing this symposium as a Chapman Conference and for organizing it. Thanks are due to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for hosting the Conference. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration provided funds which enabled us to bring a number of graduate students and some foreign participants. July 1979 S.-I. Akasofu